The Crisis in Economics, Its Nature, and Ways to Recover

Abstract

In recent decades, along with the conventional mainstream economic theory, numerous alternative approaches to solving key economic problems have emerged, which the author considers evidence of a crisis. Some of the main disadvantages of neoclassical economic theory, according to the author, are the institutional statics, as well as the methodological heterogeneity of its two component branches—micro- and macroeconomics. Overcoming the crisis in economics is associated with constructing a general economic theory based on the principles of “pure science” with a clear recognition of the functions performed by various socio-economic disciplines. While “pure economic theory” is intended to form a kind of intellectual layout of the economic system, the “realistic sciences,” which, according to the author, also include modern macroeconomics, and are instruments for analyzing specific socio-economic phenomena and processes. Taking into account that economic agents in the society are people with consciousness and interests, the author postulates the existence of an area of uncertainty, which cannot be fully comprehended.